One month to go and my bags aren't packed. Luckily I haven't needed to use them yet ;) I think I have almost everything I need, but it's all just sort of sitting scattered around the bags right now. Here's hoping I can get everything IN the bags this week.
I'm definitely beginning to feel things physically progressing. I've been experiencing a bit of cramping, which feels a lot like period cramps, but so far I haven't noticed my uterus tightening much along with the sensation. It brings back memories of the first half of pregnancy when I was constantly cramping from my uterus growing. They say I should be experiencing pretty frequent practice contractions at this point, but I guess I'm just not noticing most of them. It's so strange to know that my body is beginning to prepare for labor!
I'm also noticing more pressure down low when I walk. I've read that it's likely the baby will begin to drop around this time for first time moms. The pressure seems to be mostly focused in the front of my uterus in my pelvic cavity, not really directly on my cervix. I remember learning in birth class that the baby has to corkscrew their way out of the birth canal, so I'm sure this is just the first stop on her spiral down. I've also noticed that my hips are loosening even more. The waddle gets pretty intense these days when I'm feeling extra loosey goosey. There's really no other way to compensate than to have a really wide stance.
This entire week has been marked by on and off nausea. I even messaged the midwives about it, but didn't get anything more than "it's normal to feel nausea during pregnancy." Duh! I guess I was looking for a word of wisdom on whether this might be the start of labor. But considering it's been hanging on for a full week now, I think it's probably my hormones shifting. I really hope I don't feel this way for the rest of pregnancy.
Other late pregnancy side effects: numb fingers (only at night) at snoring. Occasionally I'll catch myself snoring while I'm awake during the day. It's not really a full snore as much as it's loud breathing I suppose. My dear husband has mentioned a few times now that I've been snoring at night also. Sorry babe! As for the numb fingers, I thought it might be something I should have concern about, until I got an email mid-week saying that it's totally common and is usually caused by the excess fluid blocking proper circulation. Considering I can't get my wedding ring past the top half of my knuckle, this would make complete sense. I keep telling Arthur that I'm worried my hands won't go back to their original size. He seems to think they will.
All this to say, LB is growing like a weed. She feels extremely compacted in there and her form is becoming more visible from the outside. The little lumps, thumps and wiggles have turned into big lopsided lumps, full body turns that sometimes make me yelp, and strong kicks. She also hiccups regularly now! For so long I wondered if I was ever going to feel those infamous baby hiccups, until one day I noticed the telltale rhythmic "tapping" and now I feel them all the time way down low. She's almost ready to take on the world, but has some lung development left to accomplish before making her way into our arms.
Thankfully we accomplished some major milestones this week. Arthur went away for the weekend to visit his dad, which left me with lots of time to tackle projects around the house...and get my first pregnancy massage! After getting pampered at a way too fancy spa, I made pretty good progress on the nursery by getting all the dresser drawers organized, putting the BOB in the car (where we plan to keep it), and hemming the curtains.
I also made a trip to Target for supplies and began packing the hospital bag. I keep telling myself that I at least have everything in the house I need now, so if it came down to it I could finish packing the bag in early labor. Definitely not the plan though.
We also installed the carseat in the car. There's something about this that totally upped the ante. It's so surreal looking in my rearview mirror to see an empty baby seat knowing that she's going to be sitting in it in just a few weeks.
I've been trying to figure out where we can get our carseat installation checked, but haven't found a good option just yet. So we used a YouTube tutorial for now and think it's in pretty good shape, but also got a great tip from our bro-in-law who said someone told him to sit on the base while you're installing it to really get it as tight as it needs to be. We're going to tighten everything up with this method soon, but still plan to get it checked out by a pro. Note: Arthur was Rain X-ing the roof because "it's going to be so much fun to watch the water roll off the roof windows". Love that guy.
In other news, I posted on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram earlier this week that we listed our Subaru for sale. We received a really great response and within 48 hours had three offers on the car. We are super sad to see our trusty buddy leave the family, but feel incredibly blessed that it sold so quickly and that we'll be able to pay off just about all of my student debt. Huge! We are officially a one car city-dwelling family. Goodbye old friend!
 |
| Back in November 2007 when we bought the car! |
 |
| September 2012 waving goodbye to the Subaru! |
We have a couple classes coming up this weekend that I'm really looking forward to. On Friday we have a massage for labor couples class at my yoga studio, and then Saturday we finally have our cloth diapering class. I'm crossing my fingers tight that it's not a bust, because I need to know how to use the dang things. I'm sure we could have done without the couples yoga class, but it seemed like a fun date night if nothing else.
I mentioned in last week's post that I've had empty flower pots sitting on my porch since last spring. Well check out our new front door garnish thanks to my mom! I think LB is going to love it.
Cheers to good labor vibes now that I'm approaching my due time!
Need to catch up?
Pregnancy Posts:
Weekly Updates:
